Baby diaper and method of making it



June 15, 1954 5, c o s 2,681,062

BABY DIAPER AND METHOD OF MAKING IT Original Filed Oct. 3, 1951Patentecl June 15, 1954 UNITED STAT ?TENT OFFICE 1953, Serial No.368,356

3 Claims. (01. 128-284) The present invention relates to babies diapersand a method of making them.

Heretofore, diapers for babies have usually been made of a singlethickness of cloth which is folded by hand before it is used. Such adiaper is now usually folded four-fold into a rectangular shape insteadof a triangular shape former 1y more frequently employed. As is wellknown, it is now customary in many households to send the diapers out tobe laundered and many laundries specialize in diaper service or provideit. Heretofore such laundries have washed, dried and then folded thediapers and delivered them in this condition to the customers. Thefolding operation is a slow one which is done by hand and, wherethousands of diapers are handled, a large amount of labor is required.

My present invention provides a diaper which is prefabricated in foldedcondition and therefore does not require folding at the laundry orbefore being applied.

It is desirable that the diapers be folded to form a relatively thickpanel in the middle with thinner edge portions; that the parts bepermanently secured in position by stitching but that the stitchingalong the folds be such that it will not wear rapidly, nor catch andretain dirt during laundering, nor chafe the child when in use, andthese features are also provided.

In accordance with my novel method of making my diaper, a long web ofcloth is folded and stitched in such a way that a tube having alongitudinal panel composed of several thicknesses of cloth is formed,after which the tube is turned inside out to bring the thickened panelon the inside of the tube so that the stitching is concealed. Thereafterthe tube is cut transversely into separate diapers and the cut edges areoveredged to retain the panel in its proper position and to preventfraying of the cut edges. This procedure does away with the folding ofindividual diapers, and they are not handled individually except duringthe overedging operation.

The novel construction of the diaper embodying my invention and thenovel method of making it lend themselves to quantity production atextremely low cost while producing a thoroughly satisfactory diaper bothto the user and to the laundry.

The novel diaper embodying my invention and the method of making it willbe readily understood from the following description and theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a portion of a web of cloth which Divided and thisapplication July 16,

2 has been folded lengthwise and stitched with the first line ofstitching.

Fig. 2 shows a part of the web of folded and stitched cloth folded againand the second line of stitching put in the thickened panel, being thenon the outside of the tube.

Fig. 3 shows a portion of the tube of stitched and folded cloth after ithas been turned inside out to bring the thickened panel on the inside ofthe tube and to conceal the stitching.

Fig. 4 is a top view showing the tube preparatory to cutting intoindividual diapers.

Fig. 5 shows the finished diaper after being overedged.

In practice I make my improved diaper of two superposed thicknesses ofsuitable cloth which together constitute a layer but it is obvious thata layer may be composed of one, two or even more single thicknesses ofcloth. In the drawings each of the two thicknesses composing a layer isindicated by a single heavy line.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 3, the noveldiaper embodying my invention, except for overedging, comprises a middlepanel A composed of four layers of cloth, I I, I2, I3 and IE, each layerbeing composed of two thicknesses as indicated by black lines in thedrawing, and two side portions B and C, the side portion B beingcomposed of portions of the layers [3 and I4 forming a folded edge 30while the side portion C is composed of portions of the layers I l andI4 forming a folded edge 3i. When completed the diaper may be consideredas a flattened tube, one side of which is formed by the layer I4, whilethe other side is formed by the layer II and that part of the layer 3which forms the panel 13. Between these two sides lie the layers I2 andpart of I3 which form the other thicknesses of middle panel A. Thelayers of the middle panel A are thus seen to be continuations of theside portion layers. The several layers are held in position by two rowsof stitching I5 and [6 as will be explained here after. The ends of thediaper are finished with lines of overedging as indicated in Fig. 5 atI! and Hi.

In manufacturing the improved diaper embodying my invention, I firstfold a web of cloth lengthwise in the middle, the fold line beingindicated at I 9 and the two side edges 26 and 2% being superposed asshown in Fig. 1. The two layers I2 and I3 are then stitched together bya line I5 of through-and-through stitching. This line of stitching I5 isplaced at a distance from the side edges 20 and 2| which issubstantially equal to the width of the middle panel A which is to beproduced. Next, the cloth is folded lengthwise upon itself along theline of stitching !5 and the edges 20 and 2i of the middle panel securedto either the upper or lower thickness of the upper layer 12 by a row ofblind stitching I6. This stitching can be done by a blind stitchingmachine which picks up only the layer 12. Thereafter the tube thusformed, which is then in the condition shown in Fig. 2 with the panel onthe outside, is turned inside out and the middle panel A brought to amiddle position forming two side panels B and G each of about equalwidth and thus brought into the condition as shown in Fig. 3 with thepanel composed of the two layers l2 and part of IS on the inside. Theedges 20 and 2! of the layers i2 and I3 are now inside the tube, as Wellas the line 15 of through-and-through stitching. The tube is then cutinto individual diapers, the lines of out being designated 22, 23 and 24in Fig. 4. Afterward the out edges are overedged as indicated at I! andE8 in Fig. 5. These lines of overedging prevent fraying and hold thepanel A permanently in its proper position with respect to the two sideportions B and C.

When completed the diaper has a central four-fold panel, only foldededges being exposed, and with the stitching enclosed. The diapertherefore requires no folding after laundering but always retains itsfolds and the four-fold panel in proper position; it has no exposed orraw edges; it has no exposed seams to wear, chafe or catch and retaindirt; and when made by my novel process can be produced rapidly in massand with a minimum of hand labor.

This application is a division of application Serial No. 249,468.

I claim:

1. The method of making a diaper which comprises folding a piece ofcloth lengthwise down the middle, stitching the superposed layerstogether by a seam running lengthwise at a distance from the free edgesof the superposed layers, folding the two superposed layers along a lineparallel to and adjacent the line of stitching but further from the freeedges, stitching the free edges of the folded-over portion to at leastone of the layers of the two said superposed layers, and then turningthe tube thus formed insideput andthereby forming a middle panelcomposed of at least four superposed layers.

2, In the method as set forth in claim 1, the steps of cutting the tubeinto separate lengths and overedging the ends of the separate lengths.

3. The method of making a diaper which comprises folding a piece ofcloth lengthwise down the middle, stitching the superposed layers to;gether by a seam running lengthwise at a distance from the free edges ofthe superposed layers, folding the two superposed layers along a lineparallel to, and adjacent the line of stitch/- ing but further from thefree edges, to the upper layer of the two superposed layers, thenturning the tube thus formed inside out and thereby forming a middlepanel composed of at least three superposed layers, cutting the tubeinto separate lengths and overedging the ends of the separate lengths.

No references cited.

